Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka has told the court that he is not challenging the paternity of the unborn baby he allegedly fathered with a woman who sued him two weeks ago.
Through his lawyer Peter Wanyama, Lusaka has told the court that he has been in talks with the woman with view of settling the matter out of court.
However, he said the issue of maintenance of the baby should be dealt with in 7 months or so after the baby is born and not now and in the children’s court.
Wanyama told Justice Antony Mrima that his client is ready and willing to pay for the medical expenses of her prenatal care.
Lawyer Danstan Omari, representing the woman, said it is true that they have met and discussed issues relating to consent and they need seven days to finalise the negotiations in order to file a consent.
But, Wanyama opposed the seven days and instead asked for one month which will be sufficient time for negotiations.
“I don’t think within seven days we will have addressed the pre-birth maintenance issues because there are a couple of issues my client is still engaging the petitioner on such as accommodation expenses with respect to prenatal care which are continuous expenses,” he argued.
Wanyama told the court that he and Omari attended a meeting where both Lusaka and the woman were present.
“We left them to continue the discussion, it’s not correct that my client cannot afford prenatal expenses; that’s a simple matter it has been sorted out,” he added.
Wanyama claims that the reason why Omari is pushing for an early date is to put pressure on Lusaka because they want him to buy the woman a house within seven days.
He wanted to know why they can’t wait for the baby to born and accommodation will be arranged at a reasonable place and other expenses handled.
“They are putting us under pressure to say that they need a house within seven days. Who can buy a house within seven days?” Wanyama posed.
Omari said 30 days is long in this situation where paternity has been admitted by Lusaka, urging the court to allow seven days because the life of the unborn child is at risk.
Justice Mrima allowed parties to continue with talks and directed the matter to be mentioned on July 28 for further directions.
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